waited 2months for he sig show at my local shop so I could get the extra mag and am now a proud owner of a P229R DA/SA in .40SW.

Anyway, it came with a small sample of TW-25b grease. I've read that Sigs like to run more wet on the lube. I've been shooting a Glock 19 that likes to run on the dry side (or very little lube), so I'm used to almost wiping off most of the extra lube during cleaning.

Can I use a grease on the slide rails and continue just using the Hoppes lube/oil for everything else? I'm not sure that I want to use grease on all the parts that need lube (which is basically the entire surface of the SIG from what I've been able to find out - youtube and this forum). I'm afraid that it'll just gunk up and be harder to clean out from the small areas.

That's what I do - grease on the rails and oil on all other moving parts.
I like the TW-25B grease, too.

Go on the Sig website to the customer service section and there are several videos on how to care, clean, & lub your Sig.

Do what they do. I only use lube for extended range sessions. For carry, I only use oil.

I use TW25B on my Glocks also.

+1 Grease the rails, oil the gun. Slide Glide and TW25B oil. Works great.

do you guys take off the grips and apply protectant on the metal under the grips?

My grip screws use torx head screws - anyone know what size torx screw for these?

quote:

Originally posted by Jerold:
do you guys take off the grips and apply protectant on the metal under the grips?

My grip screws use torx head screws - anyone know what size torx screw for these?

I do that occasionally on my steel-framed pistols.

Not sure on the Torx size.

what is the P229 frame and slide material?

I been using grease on my Sig and other handguns for a while now. I use grease on the rails, recoil spring and guide rod, trigger bar, hammer, sear, main spring strut and spring. Basically anywhere metal moves against metal I use grease. I have found it stay in place longer and provides better lubrication then oil.

I took a small syringe(3cc) and put grease in it. Cut a needle with wire cutter and can easily get grease anywhere I want it without a mess.

how difficult is grease to clean out with solvent from the small areas? doesn't it get goopy and dirty?

quote:

Originally posted by Jerold:
how difficult is grease to clean out with solvent from the small areas? doesn't it get goopy and dirty?

The biggest mistake many people make is they spray all sorts of cleaning juice all over the gun until it's dripping down to their elbows. I just wipe everything down with a few dry 3" patches, then patches dipped in juice, and finally go after the breech face and behind the extractor with juice on a toothbrush.

I use a light oil (SIG Oil, it came with my Mosquito) on all rotating surfaces. I use grease TW25b on all sliding surfaces. On my 226s or 220s that I shoot IDPA of IPSC with, the rails get an oil floater before I leave for the match.

When it comes to cleaning, the only place I use anything to clean is in the bore, everything else just requires a little wipe down with old towels or 3 inch patches, and or a brush, I buy the brushes that look like a tooth brush on one end and have one row of bristles on the other end.

I use Enos Slide Glide (medium) on the frame rails and Break Free CLP on the rest of the pistol. Before I reassemble, I also add a drop of CLP on each of the slide channels on the slide and allow it to run to towards the muzzle end - often times referred to as a floater.

After reassembly, I rack the slide several times and then wipe off the excess CLP and grease and call it good.

Cobra64: There's someone who knows how to clean a gun. Argue all you want about what's necessary, but that clean is beautiful!

I think using grease makes it easier to clean up later, not more difficult. I use grease on the rails, slide, barrel, under the decocking lever, etc. At cleaning time I just wipe off the old stuff and apply new. In many cases, I don't even use a solvent.

I don't clean after every range session and I have this odd idea that handguns can be "too clean." That does _not_ apply to carry guns, however. I think Cobra64 would not like the state of my range/games handguns most of the time. I shoot them, put them in a range bag and take them out again the next week. I do tend to pay a little more attention to the single 1911 I have but Sigs and Glocks can sit for quite a while uncleaned.

A lot of people say grease traps unburned powder and causes wear or "lapping" or other effects but I've never noticed this. If unburned powder is hard enough to lap the slide to the frame or cause wear then I have a real problem. I also have no qualms about drawing from a Kydex holster over and over. On Nitron or a similar finish the marks usually rub out. After 3+ years of draws my G34 is down to the bare metal in places on the slide. It looks fine to me. The word "safe queen" isn't in my vocabulary.

I use Weapon Shield for everything. Excellent wear protection and makes cleaning easy.

Grease is not needed if you are using a quality oil.

quote:

Originally posted by gtmtnbiker98:
... Before I reassemble, I also add a drop of CLP on each of the slide channels on the slide and allow it to run to towards the muzzle end - often times referred to as a floater...

I have heard about the "floater" method, but never understood the concept. It would seem to me that once you've racked the slide, the oil and grease have effectively mixed into one homogeonous solution. And thus the heavier grease viscosity benfit will have been compromised by the addition of the oil "floater."

As a Hoppe's #9 user, I have applied Slide-Glide to the rails after a Hoppe's cleaning, and the grease became noticabley thinner. After having followed other cleaning threads, most notibly, Sigfreund's, I always wipe down the entire gun with 90% isopropyl alcohol prior to applying grease and oil. I feel this maintains the integrity of the purpose for which the lubricants are being applied.

And yes, I'm anal retentive about gun cleaning; but since one aspect of gun ownership is my life preservation; a properly operating gun is important to me. If any of my guns fail, it will not be due to neglect or lack of training.

Footnote: In observing others' gun cleaning rituals, I've noticed that the area most neglected is the breechface, and behind the extracter. I'd rather have an unwashed barrel with 10k rounds through it, than chunks of powder residue clogged up behind the extractor. Because when the slide strips a round off the magazine, and the rim can't slide up behind the extractor, there's a problem.

I use oil on my 1911’s and TW-25B on all of my Sig’s and other pistols. I don’t mix the white grease with CLP or oil.

quote:

I have heard about the "floater" method, but never understood the concept. It would seem to me that once you've racked the slide, the oil and grease have effectively mixed into one homogeonous solution. And thus the heavier grease viscosity benfit will have been compromised by the addition of the oil "floater."

As a Hoppe's #9 user, I have applied Slide-Glide to the rails after a Hoppe's cleaning, and the grease became noticabley thinner.

Grease is just thickened oil. Add more oil, it gets thinner.

I use Slide Glide Medium grease on my aluminum Sigs, but aluminum pistols would be about the limit of my use of grease in firearms. I do feel that the soft alloy Sig frames do need a lot of help to live the long lives that today's modern polymer pistols can much more easily attain, so that's why I give the Sigs the best I can in using the Slide Glide. Glocks or any other steel rail pistol just get a good oil made for guns, or sometimes TW-25b for extended sessions or classes. I consider the TW-25b more like a thick oil than a viscous grease anyway. Slide Glide seems to be a much better grease than TW-25b as far as being able to stick around for extended sessions.

I never did buy into the oil on grease "floater" idea either. I tried it a few times with different oil and grease combos, but in every case, the floater system just accomplishes eventually mixing and therefore thinning out the grease and pushing it aside more, eliminating some of the reason that the grease is used in the first place.